In the field of aviation, and in particular that of airplane turbojets, reducing the weight of parts constituting the turbojet is a major concern both in terms of the cost of fabricating such parts, and in terms of the energy and environmental effectiveness of turbojets. This challenge has led to rapid development of parts that are made of composite materials, and in particular of organic matrix composites (OMCs), in order to replace conventional metal parts in various portions of a turbojet.
Nevertheless, making blades out of organic matrix composite material raises certain problems, in particular in terms of ability to withstand impacts. The location of such blades, e.g. in a fan or a compressor, means that they can be exposed to impacts against a wide variety of items (birds, gravel, blocks of ice, sand, etc.) and blades made of OMC can then become damaged or eroded.
A known solution is to protect the leading edge of such a blade with a metal strip that is adhesively bonded to the leading edge, the strip itself being made of titanium, for example.
That solution provides the blade with good protection in the event of an impact against an item, but it can happen that the strip becomes unstuck at certain locations depending on the energy of the impact. Furthermore, such unsticking can lead in particular to additional repair costs and to degradation in the performance of the engine as a result of degraded aerodynamics of the blade, which is not desirable.